Pierce Charles Patrick - The Best American Sports Writing 2019

Copyright 2019 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Introduction copyright 2019 by Charles P. Pierce

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ISSN 1056-8034 (print) ISSN 2573-4822 (e-book)

ISBN 978-1-328-50785-3 (print) ISBN 978-1-328-50870-6 (e-book)

v1.0919

Children of the Cube by John Branch. First published in the New York Times, August 15, 2018. Copyright 2018 by The New York Times. Reprinted by permission of The New York Times.

The Lost Cause by Virginia Ottley Craighill. First published in Sport Literate, January 30, 2018. Copyright 2018 by Virginia Ottley Craighill. Reprinted by permission of Virginia Ottley Craighill.

The Redemption of Artis Monroe by Kim Cross. First published in Bicycling magazine, June 2018. Copyright 2018 by Hearst Magazines, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Hearst Magazines, Inc.

Winning at the Cost of Silence by Beth Davies-Stofka. First published in Baseball Prospectus. Copyright 2018 by Beth Davies-Stofka. Reprinted by permission of Beth Davies-Stokfa.

The Inside Story of a Toxic Culture at Maryland Football by Heather Dinich, Adam Rittenberg, and Tom VanHaaren. First published on ESPN.com. Copyright 2018 by ESPN, Inc. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

A Killing Still Unresolved by Nathan Fenno. First published in the Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2018. Copyright 2018 by The Los Angeles Times. Used with permission.

Holding Her Own by Bonnie D. Ford. First published on ESPN.com. Copyright 2018 by ESPN, Inc. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

Whos Lookin for a Fight? by John M. Glionna. First published in California Sunday Magazine, May 31, 2018. Copyright 2018 by John M. Glionna. Reprinted by permission of John M. Glionna.

Is Killian Jornet for Real? (originally titled Are Killian Jornets Speed Records Too Good to Be True?) by Nick Heil. First published in Outside, July 12, 2018. Copyright 2018 by Nick Heil. Reprinted by permission of Nick Heil.

Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football, Inc., Part One: The Secrets Behind the Smile by Bob Hohler and Patricia Wen. First published in the Boston Globe, October 13, 2018. Copyright 2018 by The Boston Globe. Reprinted by permission of The Boston Globe.

Everyone Believed Larry Nassar by Kerry Howley. First published in New York Magazine, November 12, 2018. Copyright 2018 by Kerry Howley. Reprinted by permission of New York Media LLC.

Paradox of Paradise by Jeff Jackson. First published in Ascent/Rock and Ice, April 24, 2018. Copyright 2018 by Jeff Jackson. Reprinted by permission of Jeff Jackson.

Fists of Fury by Tim Layden. First published in Sports Illustrated, October 8, 2018. Copyright 2018 by Sports Illustrated. Reprinted by permission.

Taming the Lionfish by Jeff MacGregor. First published in Smithsonian, June 2018. Copyright 2018 by Jeff MacGregor. Reprinted by permission of Jeff MacGregor.

When Making the NBA Isnt a Cure-All: Mental Health and Black Athletes by Jackie MacMullan. First published on ESPN.com. Copyright 2018 by ESPN, Inc. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

Is This Man a Victim? by Kathryn Miles. First published in Down East, July 2018. Copyright 2018 by Kathryn Miles. Reprinted by permission of Kathryn Miles.

The Aging Curve (originally titled What Happens as Baseball Players Age?) by Sam Miller. First published in ESPN The Magazine. Copyright 2018 by ESPN, Inc. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

Another Voyage for Madmen (And This Time, One Woman) by Maggie Shipstead. First published in Outside, July 17, 2018. Copyright 2018 by Maggie Shipstead. Reprinted by permission of Maggie Shipstead.

Joel Embiid Is Seven Feet Tall and Rising by Clay Skipper. First published in GQ, October 23, 2018. Copyright 2018 by Cond Nast. Reprinted by permission of Cond Nast.

A Terror Way Beyond Falling (originally titled The Boy Who Lived on Edges) by Christopher Solomon. First published in Outside, April 2018. Copyright 2018 by Christopher Solomon. Reprinted by permission of Christopher Solomon.

What the Arlee Warriors Were Playing For by Abe Streep. First published in The New York Times Magazine, April 4, 2018. Copyright 2018 by Abe Streep. Reprinted by permission of Abe Streep.

Game Plan by Louisa Thomas. First published in The New Yorker, April 16, 2018. Originally titled: How Far Can Becky Hammon Go in the N.B.A.? Copyright 2018 by Cond Nast. Reprinted by permission of Cond Nast.

When Winter Never Ends by Wright Thompson. First published in ESPN The Magazine. Copyright 2018 by ESPN, Inc. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

My Magical Quest to Destroy Tom Brady and Win a Philadelphia Eagles Mini-Fridge at Super Bowl LII by Caity Weaver. First published in GQ, February 6, 2018. Copyright 2018 by Cond Nast. Reprinted by permission of Cond Nast.

W eve been doing it all wrong.

Its no secret, to either readers or writers, that the entire writing industrial complex is in trouble as regards not just sports writing but just about every kind of writing that makes use of letters, sentences, and the occasional paragraph. Jobs are scarce, layoffs have spread like measles among the unvaccinated, and print and online publishers close or merge into the dim-witted mists of capital reorganization every day. The few that remain not only publish less written work every year but often treat it like an enormous bother. Somehow writing itself has become the greatest impediment to the reigning business model, which measures success in IPOs, an office fridge full of double IPAs, and a summer tiny house.

Clearly, the model that worked for so long, one in which writers, usually supported by advertising, were paid in currency for their work, then had children, bought houses, and went to the bar and ran up a tab (although rarely in that order), is no longer sustainable. Not only are there fewer jobsby some estimates in the last decade half of all journalism jobs have disappearedbut already stagnant pay is going down, and fast. Finalists for the National Magazine Award have asked if I know where they might be able to pitch a story and get paid in cash. I know of legacy outlets that now pay only $100 for stories that run thousands of words, often make the writer wait many, many months for that, and cut a check only after the writer has expended more pretty-please words begging for payment than they used in the original story. Even more brilliant are those outlets that have convinced people to produce contentwhich approximates writing through the ingenious use of a familiar alphabet, punctuation, and the occasional space and hard returnfor free.